It's Now on the Farm

This is not the post I planned on writing.


The post I should be writing is about my 2012 CSA.


The last few weeks ( or has it been months?) have been about planning for next year.
Getting the seed listing done, planning Seedy Saturday, my CSA, my farm events and other farm business.


I'm tired of living so far in the future.
So...here's the now on the farm.


After putting up a new chicken coop this summer, fixing up and attaching a chicken greenhouse,which acts as their winter playground/scratching area, I am truly confounded  that the rats have already chewed through two layers of plywood door to gain access to the chicken food. How can this be? Not fair.

At least let me get a good solid month of it being together before you burst my proverbial bubble! 


Game on I say. My solution to date has been to cram the doors at night with clay pots, which covers the  hole they've already chewed and seems to prevent them from chewing new ones. 


Pots weren't too busy this time of year anyway.


The rats have the next move. I'm waiting.


I really don't like rats that much.


It's been an interesting fall. We've had some pretty chilly nights, but all in all, it's warm. And in the hoophouses, it has been down right hot at times. It's hard to regulate the temperatures.

Crops are confused.


Some cute little tatsois have decided spring is upon us, so are flowering with eternal optimism. Bless them. I'm enjoying their happy colours, especially on the cloudy and dreary days.

The hot peppers that my friends the Maniacis brought seed back from Florence for are still alive and kicking. They are leaning up against a black barrel of water which is providing them with enough heat during the cold nights to carry on. How much longer, I wonder?


It's neat to see the little tomato plants that have popped up from seed. I know their germination will all be for naught if I don't interfere.  The cold weather will finish them off sooner or later.
Tomorrow I'll pot a few up and pop them under my lights indoors with the rooted basil and rosemary cuttings. Who knows? Maybe I'll get a tomato. Or maybe just the wonderful smell of the tomato plant when I brush it with my hand. That's okay too.


And miracle of miracles. I found a tomato under my spigiarello plant that was ripe and ready to eat. In the hoop house of course. But wow. A fresh tomato in mid December works for me.

                                                             (I'm eating the tomato!)

                                            But there is still lots of fresh food going out. 

The seasons and years are colliding right now. Cleaning seed from 2011 for 2012, harvesting food from 2011 but planning for 2012. 


The weather is cooperating now. I'm planning on that for 2012 too.


But we'll see about that one.

Guest Post-Mustard Green Stuffed Portabellos

Thanks once again to my friend Leslie for the great sounding, and soon-to-be-tried recipe. 

Yes, friends, it is mustard green weather!

Mustard greens are one of the most satisfying and simple crops to grow in the winter hoop house, and they cover the whole range of colours, tastes and textures. From frilly and mild mizunas, to the pungent heat of Giant Red, mustards are a good bet for winter greens.

Here's a bit more information about them from an earlier post  And I hope you enjoy this creative recipe as much as I am going to!

Merci encore, Leslie.

Mustard greens are part of the cruciferous family of vegetables (collard greens, kale, broccoli, etc.) They are often referred to as the super-veggies because they are full of phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals, and fiber. Research has shown that eating plenty of cruciferous vegetables may help lower your risk of getting cancer. The recipe below is just one extra way to get these peppery greens into your diet on a regular basis. 

Mustard Green Stuffed Portobellos

This recipe is based on the recipe for Natale Stuffed Portobellos that appeared in the December 2011 issue of Vegetarian Times. The original recipe uses spinach instead of mustard greens and is put together a little differently. 

MUSHROOMS

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

1 clove of garlic, minced

4 large portobello mushroom caps

FILLING

2 Tbs breadcrumbs

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup chopped onion 

8 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

½ cup light cream or soy creamer

10 oz fresh mustard greens (or any combination of swiss chard, mustard greens, spinach) 

¼ cup grated Asiago cheese

4 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, chopped

1. To make mushrooms: Preheat oven to 375⁰F. Whisk together oil, vinegar, and garlic in a bowl. Brush mushroom caps with oil mixture, and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast for 30 minutes, or until tender. Remove from baking sheet and place on paper-towel-lined plate to absorb excess moisture. 
2. To make filling: Heat remaining oil/garlic/balsamic mixture in a skillet of medium heat. Add mustard greens and cook until wilted. Remove from pan and drain any excess moisture. Wipe out skillet and heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, and sauté 5 minutes, or until soft. Add sun-dried tomatoes and garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Stir in cream, and cook 2 minutes. Add cooked mustard greens back into the skillet. Stir in cheeses, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. 
3. Return mushroom caps to baking sheet and spoon filling into the caps. Top with breadcrumbs and return to the oven for 5 to 7 minutes until crumbs are toasted. 

Uncle Howard's Tomato

It was surprising how many people read the post about the garden story contest.  Thanks for reading!

You never know when you propose these things exactly how they will be received.  Will, in fact ANYBODY send me a little story?

As with everything I do, numbers really don't mean too much. I'm happy with a few exquisite tomatoes, as opposed to a field of edible cardboard. I'm happy when I hold an event if a few folks come, or if lots of people come.

So I had 3 entries. And I think I am grateful for that.  If I'd had 10 entries, how would I possibly have picked a winner?

And I loved all 3.

Genevieve for the sheer joy that comes out in her story as she describes her garden successes.  I can relate to being in the garden in my nightgown.  On more than one occasion...the joy of country living! Michelle and her tenacity in spearheading what is going to be a wonderful community garden in Burlington.

And Rob's.

Well Rob, that is just a great story! It makes me think of heirlooms and the stories that are associated with them, and of course the huge family connection we have to specific foods. I hope Uncle Howard's tomato is out there growing and thriving as it's loss would be terrible. I mean really... a tomato that can bring that much joy to a person who no longer enjoys food? That's a treasure.

So Uncle Howard"s Tomato is my winner. But in the true spirit of gardening, and because I enjoyed all three, Genevieve and Michelle, there will be 10 packets of seeds for you both as well.

Thanks so much for sharing your garden stories with me.

And now sit back and read this one. Love it!

Uncle Howard's Tomato

When he was nineteen, my mother's Uncle Howard got kicked in the head by a horse.  It knocked him unconscious for a few minutes, and when he "came to," he discovered that he no longer had a sense of smell.  And even worse, he had almost no sense of taste.

Imagine living a long life without the enjoyment of any olfactory or gustatory sense whatsoever: knowing you must eat, feeling hunger of course, but taking no pleasure in chewing and swallowing.  My Great Uncle Howard was a very thin man.  He performed the chore of eating purely for necessity, and if not for his wife, my Great Aunt Martha, he probably would have forgotten to eat more often than not.

One year I drove my Grandfather and Grandmother to Florida, and we stopped in to visit Howard and Martha, who had a winter cottage on a residential piece of land.  There, Howard revealed to us that although his sense of smell was completely and utterly gone, he did still have a tiny bit of taste sensation.  He could only taste one thing, however.  He was very excited, because he had finally grown a tomato in his garden that he could actually taste.

He waxed eloquent over the taste of that particular tomato, and crooned over its size and shape. To think, he had grown it in his own garden.  Finally, after all of these years, he could again taste food!

Isaac Asimov wrote a short story where life has evolved on a distant planet under multiple suns. Only once every couple of millennia did the suns align on one side of the planet, so that half the world was enveloped in night and the beings there could see stars.  Only once every couple of millennia, therefore, could they see and wonder at the true extent of the universe.  For Uncle Howard, the taste of that tomato was like a single window into a universe that he thought was forever denied to him.

I wish now that I had paid closer attention to the type of tomato Uncle Howard had discovered. Does that tomato still exist?  Has someone kept its seed alive, growing it year after year?  Would its taste be pleasant to me, or is it so profoundly tomatoey that only a person without a nose could eat it?

When I pick a tomato from my backyard garden plants, I smell its scent, fresh from the vine, a scent that is truer than any supermarket tomato can give you.  I take a bite, grateful that I can taste it.  It tastes so good.  I think of my Uncle Howard and I wonder: is this the one?

Homemade Crackers

Well, here it is.


I've finally made crackers that I like and that seem pretty easy and fuss-free.


I decided that this was something I needed to do after my friends Melanie and Jesse over at  Crackersblog, told me when I queried, that in fact they hadn't made crackers yet.  From the sound of their blog, they've been darn busy gardening and preserving.


I've tried a good few cracker recipes over the ensuing months.


The first was yeasted and the bloody things were delish in the spots where I rolled them thin enough, but even my beagle Darwin with his jaws capable of bone crushing force had a tough time with the thicker ones.  But, darn it...we ate them.


A few more kinds I made were un-yeasted and they were okay, but just didn't completely do it for me.

After fiddling around with a pretty simple recipe, I came up with the one that follows.


It was a good use for the "Sweet Corn Flour" that I found in a very interesting East Indian grocery store. The flour, from Manitoba, had me baffled. I bought it because I thought I'd like it because I absolutely adore cornmeal everything, but I've never actually found any recipes that call specifically for it. No mind. I put it in my breads and now crackers, and it is a welcome addition.


Homemade Crackers


3 3/4 cups flour (mine was 2 cups whole wheat, 1 3/4 cup sweet corn)
3/4 tsp sea salt
6 Tbsp olive oil
12 Tbsp water
crushed dried rosemary to taste (I think you could also add other seasonings-like caraway seeds, sesame seeds, or wherever your cravings take you.)


Preheat oven to 400 F
Mix together the flours, sea salt, rosemary and water. I just used clean hands, and got right into it. Add water and mix again to form a nice dough. Mine wasn't too sticky, but held together well.


Sprinkle flour on a Silpat or parchment paper. Divide the dough into thirds or half to work with.
Roll out thin...aim for 1/8" thickness.

Transfer to ungreased baking sheet, then cut into squares, but don't slice right through.
If desired sprinkle a bit more salt on the top. 


Bake for 10-15 minutes..just until they are starting to brown.
Pull out the the oven and cool on a rack. Break apart and enjoy!


(ps- they taste super-good with some of the chick peas (made into hummus) I bought at the same East Indian grocery store. That 10 lb bag has served me well!)